Main:Riley McCusker
Connecticut, USA |Row 4 title = Years on National Team |Row 4 info = 2016-present |Row 5 title = Club |Row 5 info = Arizona Sunrays Gymnastics; MG Elite (former) |Row 6 title = Coach(es) |Row 6 info = Janine Thompson, Brian Carey, Orley Szmuch; Maggie Haney, Victoria Levine (former) |Row 7 title = Current status |Row 7 info = Active}}Riley McCusker (born July 9 in Connecticut) is an elite American gymnast. In her first year as an elite gymnast, she placed second in the all-around at the National Championships and was named to the National Team. She trains at Arizona Sunrays Gymnastics under Janine Thompson, Brian Carey, and Orley Szmuch, alongside fellow National Team member Jade Carey. Prior to her move to Arizona in early 2020, she trained at MG Elite under Maggie Haney and Victoria Levine, alongside 2016 Olympian Laurie Hernandez. Her favorite event is uneven bars. Junior Career 2016 McCusker qualified elite at the American Classic, where she placed fifth in the all-around. She went on to place fourth on bars and ninth in the all-around at the U.S. Classic in June. Later that month, she competed at her first National Championships, winning all-around, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise silver. Her all-around placing earned her a spot on the National Team. Senior Career 2017 At the February National Team training camp, McCusker was named to compete at the American Cup in her home state of New Jersey, marking her senior international debut.American Cup Unfortunately, McCusker suffered two falls, one on bars and one on beam, the latter falling on her back after missing a foot on her take off for her dismount. She bounced back on floor exercise and finished fifth in the all-around. She fared much better at the City of Jesolo Trophy the following month, winning team, all-around, and balance beam gold, and uneven bars silver. In July, she only competed on three events at the U.S. Classic. She had to tuck one of her releases on the uneven bars (where she placed eighth), fell on her dismount on balance beam (where she placed thirteenth), but hit a relatively clean floor routine (where she placed fourth). In August, she competed at her first senior National Championships. Although she sat in second place heading into day two, a mistake on floor and a lower start value on vault dropped her down to third. She also won gold on bars, silver on beam, and tied for fourth on floor exercise with Emily Gaskins and Sydney Johnson-Scharpf. McCusker was in contention for the World Championships in Montreal but suffered a stress fracture and withdrew from the selection camp.injury, Worlds withdrawal 2018 McCusker returned to competition at the American Classic, competing on bars and beam, and finishing thirteenth. She went on to compete at the U.S. Classic, and had an impressive competition, winning uneven bars gold, all-around and balance beam silver, and placing fourth on floor exercise. She continued to impress at the National Championships, winning silver on uneven bars, bronze in the all-around and on balance beam, and placing seventh on floor exercise. She was named to the U.S. team for the World Championships in Doha, Qatar in late October. She suffered a fall on balance beam in qualifications and ultimately placed eighth in the all-around, but didn't advance to the final as her teammates Simone Biles and Morgan Hurd has qualified ahead of her. Despite this, she competed on both bars and beam in the team final, hitting two clean routines, and helping the U.S. win team gold and automatically qualify a full team to the 2020 Olympics. 2019 McCusker competed at the Birmingham World Cup in March, but suffered two falls, one on vault and one on balance beam. Despite this, her performances on her other two events were solid enough for her to win silver in the all-around. In July, she competed at the U.S. Classic, placing an impressive second in the all-around. She additionally won silver on beam, bronze on bars, and placed fifth on floor. Following the competition, she was named to the U.S. team for the Pan American Games.Pan Ams alternate At the Pan American Games she performed well in the qualifications, which also served as the team final. She helped the U.S. team win the gold, and advanced in first place to the all-around final. However, during the all-around final, she fell on her Ricna release on the uneven bars, and placed second behind Ellie Black. She came back during uneven bars finals to perform a clean routine and win gold. During the balance beam final, she fell on her double back tuck dismount and placed third, and had a few landing problems during floor and placed fifth. In August, McCusker competed at the National Championships. She had trouble on uneven bars both days of competition, placing seventh, but withdrew from Nationals midway through the second day.withdrew from Nationals 2020 In February, McCusker left MG Elite to train at Arizona Sunrays, alongside fellow National Team member Jade Carey.MG Elite to Arizona Sunrays Medal Count Floor Music 2017-2018 - [http://candycoateddoom.tumblr.com/post/158000525408/riley-mccuskers-2017-floor-music-this-is "This is Halloween" from The Nightmare Before Christmas (as covered by the Vitamin String Quartet)] 2019 - "Diabolo" by Xavier Mortimer & Maxime Rodriguez References